284 The Future #284

Kenya

Inside a desert cave

"Hmm, recently used..." I muttered with a frown as I kneeled before a large hole full of sticky florescent green liquid as I rubbed between my index finger and thumb.

I had already spent the past day flying all over the globe, finding and destroying all Lazarus Pits on the planet. The one before me differed from the others as the chemicals inside the pit felt less potent, somehow.

They lacked a certain feeling of concentration, which the other pits had, leading me to believe someone had recently used it. 'Hopefully, whoever was here had used it to revive Jason...' I mused, shaking my head as I stood up and stepped back.

I raised my hand and created a searing sphere of flames roughly two times bigger than myself, then brought my hand down and fireball upon the Lazarus Pit down along with it.

"One more to go..." I muttered with a nod as I watched the flames devour the chemicals, evaporating the green liquid instantly upon impact before flying to the cave's exit.

'One more Lazarus pit, then the meeting with Katherine, and I can get back to my work...'

...

Gotham

Tricorner Island

"Someone's in a doozie," Gordon said as he walked into Baraba's room, leaning on the door as he noticed his daughter's dazed state. "I knocked, but you didn't say anything..." He added as he gained the redhead's attention.

"Yeah... I was thinking about the offer..." Barbara said, bitterly smiling at her father's words. "Please come in," She added as she shook off the stray thought and gestured for her father to sit.

"You look hesitant... why....?" Gordon said as he obliged and sat down, raising an eyebrow as he looked at his daughter. "You're either interested in working with the kid or not..." He added with a chuckle.

"He offered to help you no matter what you chose without any strings attached, so it's a simple yes or no question..." He concluded, pausing as he waited for Barbara to reply.

"It's not that I don't want to work with him. He's doing amazing work, and Gotham is reciprocating..." Barbara said with a sigh as she trailed at the end of her sentence, seemingly hesitant.

"I know I can help our city and do a lot of good if I help him, but..." The redhead said, her expression showing great conflict, to which Gordon quickly interjected.

"But in doing so, you feel as if you're betraying Batman..." The father said, an amused smile tugging on his lips as he finished his daughter's sentence and noticed her wide-eyed expression.

"You know I was a detective almost all my life... one of the best if I say so myself..." Gordon added with a chuckle. "If I couldn't figure out his identity and that my daughter was running around in spandex bashing criminals' faces, then I wouldn't be worth my salt..." He added, his smile dissipating as he let out a tired sigh.

"You were always so smart and special... I knew you would do many great things since you were a little girl..." The father said as he fondly looked at his daughter, a wistful expression appearing on his face.

"What I'm trying to say is to follow your heart... I know it won't let you down..." Gordon said after a brief thought as he shook away the memories of better times and smiled.

"Even Batman decided to let go of the past and hang his cowl. Maybe you should do the same and focus on the future..." The father continued with a sigh as he stood. "I'll let you think on that," He concluded as he headed for the door.

"Thanks, dad..." Barbara said as she watched her father leave, causing him to smile as he waved back without bothering to turn around.

...

Louisiana

Belle Reve, inside the maximum security ward

Deathstroke let go of the ceiling as he landed behind one of the prison's guards, quickly putting in a sleeper hold and knocking him out before the latter could react.

He couldn't help but chuckle, finding his current situation amusing as he dragged the unconscious guard to a hidden corner away from prying eyes while avoiding the cameras.

Usually, the poor guard would be as good as dead, but this wasn't his usual gig. His regular employers didn't care about collateral damage, nor did Diethrstroke.

However, the person who hired him for this task specifically asked to avoid casualties at all costs, even at the risk of failure, which the mercenary would have refused. But he happened to owe the employer a debt of gratitude.

Still, Deathstroke was a professional, the best of the best, for a reason, and he wouldn't let something like that stop him from finishing the job, even if the ridiculous condition made his work a bit more complicated.

"It's your lucky day, Mr. Jonathan..." Deathstroke said with a chuckle as he glanced at the guard's name tag before ripping it off. "You get to go home back to your wife and kids..." He added as he rummaged through his pockets and retrieved his security card.

Once he'd hidden the guard's unconscious body and taken everything that he needed, Deathstroke tabbed at his chest, to which his suit immediately changed appearance to resemble the security guard's uniform.

The mercenary quickly adjusted his tie and put on the guard's hat, hiding his eye batch with sunglasses before tying up the man and leaving him behind.

Naturally, Deathstroke did not randomly target Mr. Jonathan, as he had hired a hacker to break into the prison's database and retrieve the patrol routes.

He targeted Mr. Jonathan as he knew the latter's route would take him straight to the target's cell.

In any case, Deathstroke headed straight for the most secured solitary prison block and stopped at the entrance as he used the security card he plundered from the now unconscious guard.

The secure door opened, and Deathstroke walked through it. However, he only took two steps toward his destination before stopping as he heard someone calling for him from behind.

"Hey! I haven't seen you here before. Who are you...? And where is Al? He's supposed to be doing the rounds at this time..." Said a man as he approached Deathstroke with a hand on his gun's holster.

"Hello, sir. You must be John, the supervisor. Al thought I might run into you..." Deathstroke said with a friendly smile as he raised his hands in surrender. "He said you're too good at your job not to notice an unfamiliar face..." He added, his casual flattery causing the guard to relax as he removed his hand from the gun holster.

"Al had a family emergency... it's his son, Jack. He beat up some other kid in school that was trying to bully him. Both of them were hurt, so Al had to leave..." Deathstroke concluded, telling the predetermined excuse he had prepared beforehand.

"That dumbass is always causing trouble... he could have just asked for a leave," The guard said, shaking his head as he completely relaxed. "I take you're new around here? Don't let the old farts push you around like that. You didn't have to do Al's job," He added with a frown.

"It's not like that, sir. Al seemed in a hurry and quite anxious, so I took it upon myself to help," Deathstroke replied with a chuckle as he lowered his hands when he noticed the guard relaxing.

"Good on you. I'll let it slide this time, but don't do it again, you hear me?" The supervisor firmly said with a nod. "We have protocol for a reason. Now get going and don't linger for too long..." He concluded, shooing Deathstroke away, to which the latter obliged and walked away.

Still, he didn't get far before the supervisor called him again, much to Deahtstoke's Chagrin as he stopped. "What's with the indoor shades, by the way? You look ridiculous..." He said, looking Deathstroke up and down with an amused smile.

"Oh, I'm fully aware of how they make me look..." Deathstroke said with a self-deprecating chuckle. "I just had surgery recently, so I need the shades on at all times for the next week," He added, causing the supervisor to smile and shake his head as he left without bothering to say anything.

Deathstroke watched the supervisor leave with a smile that instantly vanished once the latter was out of sight. "What a jackass..." He said, shaking his with a blank expression.

"I better take care of Ras and get out of here before I lose my patience..."

...

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